The Final Cetra
by Skulryk
Summary: The story of Aeris and Iflana's struggles, as they try with all their might to live, and to save the planet. Chapter 2 - Ifalna escapes Hojo, but struggles against the harsh environment
1. Default Chapter

Final Fantasy VII - The Final Cetra

Final Fantasy VII

The Final Cetra

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I don't own FF7 or Squaresoft. As much as I'd like to, I'm not making any money off this in any way, so you can't sue me. :P

This is a fanfic about everything that happened to Aeris and her mother before she arrived in Midgar. I will be expanding it over the future, of course. Also, on this chapter, I know I screwed up with the events, and they don't happen exactly that way in FF7... I made stuff up to fit the story. Anyways, Please R/R!

Professor Gast played with his camera. It hadn't been working properly before, but all that was to be fixed now. He looked at the cables, making sure he connected them correctly. He then called out to his wife. "Hold on, honey. Just a little longer; it's almost ready."

Ifalna walked in and sighed. Her husband had always been obsessing over that camera, even when he said he would get rid of it. He assured her that all his own little 'home videos' would be stored confidentially, but she was rather tired of seeing him always perched over the console, messing with one thing or another. However, this was the Professor Gast which she married, and whom she loved. "You're still fiddling with that thing? I thought you were going to get rid of it."

Professor Gast laughed. He knew Ifalna did not like the recording system, but he placed his hand upon her shoulder. "I want to catch our daughter on tape, that's all! Now… I've almost got it. Is Aeris still asleep?"

"I think so." Ifalna said. She glanced over to the small crib on the other side of the house. Their small child was asleep deep under the covers, playfully batting at the air in her sleep. _So innocent_, Ifalna thought. "I'll go wake her."

"Don't bother. I just wanted to get this thing up and running… There!" Professor Gast stepped away from a machine. He laughed a bit as his creation began to work. He looked up at a camera, then at a monitor. The picture was a bit flaky, but that was the best he could get; the last time he had tried to fix a flaky picture had resulted in the whole video system blacking out. Now he resolved to leave it as it was. "I've got it!"

Suddenly, a brutish knock was heard at the door. The door shifted at its hinges with each knock. Gast shot his head towards the door, a look of fear on his face. "Open up, right now!" said a rather sickly voice from the other side. "ShinRa has come to reclaim the Ancient!

Professor Gast went pale. He knew that he had been taking an enormous risk since he married Ifalna, and knew this day was bound to come, but... this was simply horrible. _Why now... Why so soon? Why right after our daughter was born?_ "Oh god…" he whispered to his wife. "They've found me. I don't know how, but they have… Please… Take Aeris and get out of here!"

Ifalna ran to the back of the house, where the crib was. She bundled up the sleeping Aeris in her arms and unlatched the window, opening it wide open. The cold air swirled around the room, and Ifalna shivered. She pulled Aeris close and ducked below the crib.

Outside the door, a ShinRa soldier fired off a few shots at the door. A second soldier grunted as he bashed the door in.

The door bulged at his first blow, then shattered at his second. The shards of it flew in various directions, as Professor Gast looked at the people horrified. The two ShinRa soldiers were gun-wielding lackeys, no more, yet they were terrifying. One took his gun and shot various things around the room, shattering potions, spilling chemicals, and damaging years of valuable research. The other pointed his gun strait at Professor Gast. Their dark blue uniforms had never failed to strike fear in the hearts of many, and it was no exception now. However, the man behind both of them was more of a terror to Gast than an entire army of those arrogant soldiers would have been.

"Hojo..." Professor Gast said.

Hojo stood, small but threatening. He had very pale skin, and had black hair greasily hanging in tangles on both sides of his face. He leered through his chemical-coated glasses directly at Gast, taking in everything else in the room. The stench of deadly chemicals could be smelt off of Hojo from where Gast was standing, even with the air flowing from both the door and the window Ifalna had just opened. Ifalna watched in horror from behind the crib as the men invaded their home.

"You know what I've come here for, Gast." Hojo said with a sneer. He spat on the floor in front of Professor Gast. "Give me the Ancient. Now. We need to perform some more experiments on her."

Professor Gast saw his life falling apart before him. _No... No... NO!_ Ifalna was now his life, and he would do anything to protect her. He already knew Hojo would catch him in a lie, but he needed to buy time. "Listen, Hojo. I don't have the ancient anymore. I think someone screwed up in your orders, because she returned after my interviews with her."

As predicted, Hojo saw right through his lie. Hojo pulled out a small black revolver out of his lab coat, once white but now greasy with stains, and shot Professor Gast in the leg. Gast yelled in pain, and grabbed his leg. The bullet had gone right through, and blood seeped down. Tears began to stream down his face as his life came crashing down around him. He shot a glimpse of anguish towards Ifalna, and quickly turned away before Hojo noticed anything. The blood formed a pool around his leg.

"Now," Hojo said. "no more lies." His first soldier stood by his side. _Like a loyal dog... like every ShinRa worker..._ Gast thought. The second soldier had stepped out into the house, looking around. Hojo spoke up again. "Tell me, where is the Ancient? Or I shall be forced to be the cause of your... accidental death." Hojo said with a smirk. He let out a laugh, and held up his revolver once more. 

"Please, Hojo!" Gast said. From where he was, he could not tell if Ifalna had escaped or not. "The Ancient isn't here any more!" _I only hope that isn't a lie..._ Gast thought to himself. Hojo lowered his revolver, then stepped into the house. Gast breathed a sigh of releif. However, Hojo peered at the soldier at the door. He gave him some sort of signal. The soldier coldly pulled the trigger of his gun, filling Professor Gast with round after round of bullets. Gast felt them tear through his flesh, ripping his body to shreads, but only had one thought in his head.

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Please... Aeris, Ifalna... Please get to safety... Please manage to live...

The final shot went straight through Gast's head. Hojo smirked at the massacre. He kicked Professor Gast's body once, and stamped his shoes in his blood. He examined some of the items on his shelf, but paid no attention to them. Knocking off pictures of Gast and the Ancient in disgust, he kicked his body once more before leaving the house. "We will find that Ancient." he said to himself. The soldier who had entered the house noticed the camera, and, with a rather stupid remark, shot it out. Hojo glared at him. "It's useless to search this house anymore. The ancient is gone. We are leaving now to find her." The soldier made a sorrowful look at Professor Hojo, then followed him out. 


	2. The Final Cetra - Chp. 2: Harsh Winds of...

The Final Cetra - Chapter 2

Final Fantasy VII

The Final Cetra

Chapter 2 – Harsh Winds of the North

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I don't own FF7 or Squaresoft. As much as I'd like to, I'm not making any money off this in any way, so you can't sue me. :P

Yeah, I know this one is short... sorry. I wanted to make it longer, but I just didn't quite have it in me. Oh well, expect Chapter 3 to be longer and better (and a whole lot quicker; sorry for taking so long to get this up.)

Ifalna did not need to hear Professor Gast's screams. The bullets blaring in the background, the shouts of Hojo and his men... none of it was necessary. She knew what would happen the moment those brutish officers knocked on her door and Hojo's voice was heard from the other side.

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Hojo... She hated that name. She had been in contact with that crazed scientist once before. He did not have any sense of humanity. Any subjects of his were simply viewed as specimens. It had been said by many scientists that he would never be as great as Professor Gast... And now Professor Gast was dead. Killed by the person jealous of his superiority. Hojo and ShinRa were almost the same. Both without a sense of humanity, both viewing people as simple specimens... They would do anything to get what he desired. She could still remember everything about him because of that ordeal...

Ifalna shut her eyes at the thought of him. She did all she could to get him out of her mind. She had been one of Hojo's 'specimens' in the past. However, she knew the evil Hojo possessed. _Please..._ she asked the planet._ Just don't let Aeris ever be subject to such evil..._

The final few gunshots from Professor Gast's house could be heard. Ifalna was already far away, but she sobbed as she ran out of the village. She didn't know where she was going... she didn't even have a clue what direction she was headed in. She didn't know what lay ahead or It didn't matter. She would rather be dead then her or her daughter be in the custody of that crazed scientist. However, Ifalna could sense that the planet wanted Aeris to live.

Here, the snow was steep. She could barely get through. All she was wearing was the small amount of clothes she had been wearing when she was with Professor Gast. She had gone from a warm house to the frozen winds of the land surrounding the Gaea Cliffs. Aeris was only kept in a small bundle of blankets. Ifalna held her child close. She wiped the tears from her face, and attempted to trudge on.

Hojo shouted after her, remarks she could not hear. An order to his soldiers prompted a barrage of bullets in her direction. None managed to hit, but the disturbance caused Ifalna to lose her footing. She cried out as she stumbled down the icy glacier, over a cliff into the ice and snow below. She clung to Aeris tightly, but quickly lost consciousness upon hitting the ground.

* * *

She snapped her eyes open, darting them around at whatever was in sight. _Aeris..._ she thought.

With much effort, she got up. Looking around, she saw that she was in a large field of snow. However, the cold and the snow was not what worried her. Her child was gone...

Frantically searching and digging through the snow, she managed to find her buried under the snow. Sobbing, Ifalna held her child close. Aeris was frail, and Ifalna had not helped her at all. She buried her deep in her breast, and continued walking over the snowy field.

She had somehow managed to elude Hojo, but Ifalna was sure he was out with an army searching for her. She could not stay in the same place. Out here she would simply freeze to death; it was a miracle she hadn't already. She needed to keep moving.

The sun faintly hung in the sky, and Ifalna trudged across the snowy field. It was an endless mass of snow and ice. The wind whipped around her, sending snow in every direction and most likely misguiding her. Out here, it was impossible to tell if one was retracing their steps or heading in the completely wrong direction. The only way people got through this place was with something to mark their way. Ifalna had no such markers, and the snow was impossible to get through. Her footprints filled with snow mere seconds after she had made them. Ice bit at her face, and wind got fiercer with every step she took. Her tears had frozen to her face, and the sun had dipped below the Gaea Cliffs.

In the cold night, Ifalna had lost all strength to go on. However, she clutched Aeris close to her, trying to keep her warm, hoping for a miracle. As her body temperature dropped to dangerous levels, she collapsed in the snowy fields. Ice carried by whipping winds covered her body.


End file.
